Doogie White   with La Paz

Edinburgh, Scotland    June 20, 2009


Well another weekend of Gigs ends in Edinburgh for Doogie White and La Paz.

The day began at 3:00pm with an in-store performance at Imported Instruments down at Ocean Terminal in Edinburgh. The store sells musical gear, guitars, amps and so on. Doogie and Chic were at the back of the fairly large store, playing through a small PA and amp. This was absolutely amazing because you could really hear Doogie sing and Chic play. Chic is an excellent player and the interaction, the chemistry, between him and Doogie is superb, you can tell they are good friends, it just really works. Doogie's vocals in this smaller environment were frankly superb because you could really hear the range and power of his voice. They really weren't loud, it was almost acoustic, but Chic played an electric had a great sound and Doogies voice really shone through.

People rant about Dio and Bonnet and Glenn Hughes as the voices of Rock......eh excuse me!! .. try Doogie White as the voice of Rock, he does it all admirably. Without doubt the best Scottish Rock vocalist working today, barr none. This in-store session was a real treat also because after performing Doogie and Chic chatted with the audience. Doogie White, despite having played with some of the Worlds premier rock stars remains a very grounded and natural person. There's no edge, no front, just a guy who really enjoys his music. Ditto Chic the guitarist, no bull, great guy.

The evening gig at Studio 24 in Edinburgh followed. Studio 24 is a nice venue, but it's got a strange reputation locally, so attendance wasn't as good as the band might have hoped for overall. This was unfortunate as the proceeds were going to the La Paz Charity which would benefit from more support. So come-on people, dig deep here and support Doogie White and La Paz in their endeavours.

You can download the La Paz songs(www.lapazrocks.com) for just 0.50p per track again all the money going to their charity.

I don't know what's wrong with the people of Edinburgh, but it seems there is an apathy for most forms of live music here hence the smaller turnout. Ok, so the stage looked fantastic and the lighting was really good. The Band took to the stage around 9:00 and played through to 10:30. I'm never good at set-lists, but it was a mix of La Paz originals, which were really good, and rocked along really well and of course a number of Rainbow and Deep Purple covers as well. The La Paz material was new to me, but the songs are well put together and of course executed really well, it's their own material, so it sounds natural of course!

The band were as tight as two coats of paint and Doogie was singing his heart out. The range of his vocals and the general timbre is amazing. Doogie is a seriously good singer and entirely professional, he played the show and interacted with the audience brilliantly. Just like last time I saw them, the whole band really clearly enjoy the whole thing, they are playing entirely for their audience and their own enjoyment. The whole band had a more interactive role this time and it really works.

I came away feeling I'd been privileged to have been there and that is a pretty rare feeling to get from a gig these days. So all credit to Doogie and Chic and the guys, they have got it entirely right here. It's all down to chemistry and these guys really have that visibly going on. They played the Rainbow/Purple songs really well, plenty of excitement and lot's of pressure on Chic, but he delivered it all as required, even with StarGazer, which is pretty mammoth song for most guitar players!

It would be interesting to see if La Paz could produce another Album, because their own material, which I believe came from the 80's, didn't sound like it came from the 80's! It had a modern hard rock feel to it and didn't sound at all dated, the way some music form that period very definitely does. Very well put together, good writing and well worth a listen for sure. Well worth a buy too!

In summary, a great afternoon and another great evening in the company of Doogie, Chic and La Paz, well worth the ticket money and great to hear these songs performed so well. Exciting, invigorating, thrilling, basically everything that a really good hard rock gig should be. Thanks guys, look forward to next time.

Review by Scorpioxxs

Fantastic show from La Paz, though poorly attended. The afternoon set at the music shop was perhaps better attended. There Chic and Doogie ran through 4 songs and stayed around and chatted with people for ages.

The evening show started at 9 with the audience outnumbering the band by 2 to 1. That did not matter as the band roared through a wonderful set of La Paz tunes and some Rainbow numbers.

They finished of with a chaotic version of Burn. The band really put a lot of effort into the show, and like the other reviewer said, it felt almost a privilege to be there.

Review by Kev Dixon

All photos: © Kev Dixon

La Paz website: www.lapazrocks.com